Category: 2009 Scholarship Contest

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2009 Finalist Showcase

Welcome back to the 2009 version of the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look-Back series. In today’s entry, we wanted to show off a couple of the finalists designs that, even though they were not turned into cards, we still thought should be seen by everyone. You can browse through the full collection of finalists from the 2009 contest in the 2009 Scholarship Finalists slideshow, but below are some of our favorites from the group. We would also love to hear your opinions on which design you liked so don’t forget to vote in our poll underneath the images!

 


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Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2009 Finalist Designs

In today’s entry for our Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back series, we wanted to put the spotlight on a couple of finalist entries which were selected to be made into cards. Every year we receive thousands upon thousands of entries for our scholarship and while there can only be one Scholarship Winner, the amount of amazing artwork that we receive is so great that we always like to pick out a few finalists and add them to our line of cards as well. In the case of the 2009 Scholarship, two finalists designs were chosen to be made into cards.

The first design was submitted by Daniel Romlein of Potsdam, NY. Daniel painted a beautiful winter scene featuring Birch trees in a snow covered forest. When we first saw this entry, everyone in the room loved it. It brought to mind the holiday season at it’s most relaxing moment. This design was transformed into the “Shimmering Birches Holiday Card” after some additions like foil glitter depicting snow and a beautiful frame to center this amazing image and provide a background for the “Season’s Greetings” front sentiment.

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The second design was submitted by Katie Maupin of Jacksonville, North Carolina. Katie submitted an amazing painting of a snow covered home with a snowman in the front and the words “Seasons Greetings” written on the bottom. This design had such a warm and inviting feel to it that we knew that we had to add it to our line Season’s Greetings Cards. It was officially transformed into the “Warm Winter Welcome Christmas Card“. You can see some of the changes that were made to enhance this beautiful image such as a frame covered in snowflakes and glitter to represent the falling snow.

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Even though the above entries did not win, they deserved to be added to our line of cards. It truly is a testament to the quality of entries that we receive each year and we are always looking out for new designs to add to our ever expanding line. We hope you enjoyed this look into two great entries from the 2009 scholarship contest and we look forward to seeing you here next week for our next entry into the Create-A-Greeting-Card Look Back series!

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2009 Winning Entry Transformation

In our current entry into the Look Back Series for the 3rd Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest, we are going to take a look into the transformation of Lauren Ondreko’s winning entry into the final card that we have on sale today.

The process begins with Lauren’s entry being scanned into the computer to create a Hi-Res version of it for editing. Below is the original artwork that Lauren Submitted to the scholarship contest.

Lauren's Original Entry

This is what Lauren’s entry looked like after it was scanned into the system for editing.

Scanned in Version

The next step after scanning in the artwork is to clean up the image and sharpen the edges so that the production person, or Imager, can get to work. At this point the front sentiment is also added to the card and the card design begins to take shape!

Revised Art

Once the image is cleaned up and the front sentiment is added, the card is ready to go through the separation process. The imager determines the different colors and finishing techniques to be used on this Christmas card design. There are all kinds of options to choose from such as including ink color choices, die cutting, foil-stamping and foil embossing.

The creative team will get together and go over all of these choices to test out and find the best one to use. There are many different colors of paper stock, and some of these colored stocks will be tested with different types of inks or foils, depending on the design. Once the team narrows down the combinations, the card is sent to production so that the creative team can actually see all of the different choices and decide which will be the final one. Take a look below to see what these test designs look like.

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After much discussion and back and forth, the final design was chosen and added to our line as the Snowman Surprise Christmas Card.

Snowman Surprise Christmas Card

Once again, we want to thank you for stopping by and taking a behind the scenes look into the transformation of Lauren Ondreko’s entry into the beautiful card it is today. We hope you come back next week for another entry it our Look-Back Series!

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2009’s Touching Thank You

In our newest entry into our Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look-Back series, we wanted kick off the 3rd annual scholarships month by giving everyone a behind the scenes look at the amazingly creative and gracious way the winner, Lauren Ondreko, sent us her thanks after we let her know that she had won.

 

2009 Scholarship Winner Lauren Ondreko
Lauren Ondreko

Lauren, who was the first high school student to win the scholarship contest, submitted a beautiful line drawing that featured all of the Christmas essentials like snowmen, presents, ornaments and more. It was a beautiful piece of artwork that to us, defined the spirit of Christmas and we felt was going to turn into a simply stunning Christmas card in our collection.

After Lauren had been told that she won the scholarship, she created handmade custom thank you cards that she sent to our office. It was a surprise to all of us when we received them and everyone in the office was touched by this beautiful gesture. The cards featured the same beautiful line work that made her scholarship entry be chosen as the winner. As if the beautiful drawing on the front wasn’t enough, on the inside of the thank you cards, Lauren wrote a very touching personal note thanking the company for selecting her as the winner.

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This scholarship has been a source of many great moments and memories for us and this was definitely one of the best. These thank you cards made everyone in the office proud to be a part of something truly special and we hope that you enjoyed this glimpse into a moment that truly touched everyone in our company.